A summary of Aelita by Alexei Tolstoy Automatic translate

Alexei Tolstoy’s 1923 science fiction novel transports readers from post-revolutionary Petrograd to the slowly fading planet Mars. The work seamlessly combines themes of social unrest among the Martian masses with the profound tragedy of love between an Earth scientist and the daughter of a cruel ruler. In 1924, director Yakov Protazanov adapted the book into a silent film of the same name, which became a recognized classic of early cinema.

Preparing for flight

On the deserted Petrograd street of Krasnye Zori, an advert appears seeking a companion for an interplanetary flight. American correspondent Archibald Skyles declines the offer, writing the engineer a check for exclusive travel essays. Red Army soldier Alexei Gusev, a man of immense energy and a veteran of numerous battles, arrives at the workshop of engineer Mstislav Los. Having been placed in the reserves, he suffers from the boredom of civilian life. Los is grieving over the recent death of his wife Katya, yearning for solitude, and longing to leave Earth.

In the barn, an engineer shows Gusev the spacecraft. The spherical cabin, constructed of refractory steel, operates on the same principle as a rocket. The fuel is ultralyddite — a powder of unprecedented explosive power. On August 18th, before a buzzing crowd of onlookers, the steel egg roars into the crimson sky.

Outer space

Moving at colossal acceleration, the travelers experience excruciating pain. The g-forces rupture blood vessels, increase heart rate, and heat up the cabin. Thanks to Los’s precise calculations, the automatic oxygen supply saves the astronauts’ lives. The dazzling Sun and stars float past the portholes. After passing the debris of the shattered planet, the spacecraft enters the gravitational field of Mars. The speed of time changes: for the astronauts, the flight lasts nineteen hours, while on Earth it would have been more than three weeks.

After a hard landing, Los and Gusev emerge onto an orange plain. The surface is densely overgrown with tall cacti, and the earth is cut by the wide furrows of dry canals. They soon spot a winged Martian in an airboat. Attempts to speak to him fail, but a local drops a sack of food to the aliens.

Abandoned city

While exploring the area, the heroes fight off giant brown spiders. Reaching the white stone banks of an ancient reservoir, they discover the ruins of a cyclopean building. Among the rubble lie desiccated skeletons, heavy gold jewelry, and death masks with a bulge on the forehead — a third eye. Elk discovers a vault containing audio books. The pages convey text through shifting colored geometric shapes and musical tones.

The next day, a huge three-masted airship arrives for the earthlings. Armed soldiers, led by a bald Martian, pick up the guests. The flight passes over bleak wastelands, the remains of ancient battles, giant aqueducts, and circuses used for spring water collection. Soacera, the planet’s capital, a multi-tiered city with glass roofs, opens before the heroes. The High Council of Engineers, led by the stern ruler Tuskub, greets the newcomers with extreme hostility. Tuskub sees the Sons of Heaven as a direct threat to his dictatorial order. The earthlings are isolated in the ruler’s country estate, surrounded by azure groves.

Aelita and the Secrets of Atlantis

Tuskub’s daughter, the ash-haired Aelita, takes it upon herself to teach the guests the Martian language via a visual screen. Los spends long hours conversing with her, developing a deep affection for the wise girl. Aelita reveals the history of Mars, named Tuma.

Twenty thousand years ago, Earth was inhabited by a powerful civilization. The Magazitl nation flourished in the City of a Hundred Golden Gates. After a series of catastrophic earthquakes, the continent of Atlantis sank to the ocean floor. The surviving Magazitls fled to Mars, where they enslaved the indigenous orange Aol tribe. The aliens built an irrigation system and erected great cities. Over time, the thirst for life faded, knowledge was erased, and water supplies became critically depleted. The planet slowly began to die.

Aelita’s father espouses a philosophy of absolute peace. He intends to destroy Soacera along with its billions of workers. Tuskub wants to spare the elite from rebellion, ensuring a select few a quiet golden age. The ruler orders Aelita to poison the earthlings, but she refuses. Los reveals his feelings to her. Aelita breaks her strict vows as a priestess of the goddess Magr by reciprocating his feelings.

Armed uprising

Gusev has no intention of peacefully awaiting his death. By seducing the manager’s niece, Ikha, he gains access to the system of foggy mirrors and begins spying on the capital. The Red Army soldier witnesses appalling poverty in the underground factories. Soon, he witnesses a secret meeting. Engineer Gor, the leader of the proletariat, accuses Tuskub of systematic genocide of the population.

Having collected weapons, Gusev steals a boat and flies to the center of Soacera. He addresses a huge crowd of oppressed Martians, calling them to action. Having seized the arsenal, Gusev arms forty thousand workers. Fierce street fighting ensues. The rebels shoot down government dragonfly-ships. Tuskub leads his loyal troops into ancient underground labyrinths, luring the revolutionaries into a deadly trap.

The government’s counterattack proves devastating. Electromagnetic towers burn the rebels with circular bolts of lightning. Tuskub’s troops blow up workers’ quarters, engulfing the streets in bluish flames. Gor is mortally wounded. Los and Gusev, caught in the middle of the carnage, attempt to escape through Queen Magr’s labyrinth. They wander for a long time in complete darkness, nearly falling into a bottomless abyss. Near a circular ledge, they encounter a shaft swarming with giant spiders. Resurfacing, they head for the estate.

Death of hopes and return

Los and Aelita flee by boat to the Lysiasira Mountains, to the ruins of the Sacred Threshold. There, by the fire, Aelita sings an ancient song of love. They become husband and wife. Their peace is short-lived. Having tracked the fugitives, Tuskub’s soldiers descend from the heavens. Aelita is taken away to be executed according to the cruel law of apostates — thrown into the dark well of the labyrinth. Los is brutally beaten, left to die in a pool of blood.

In Soatser, the mutiny is finally drowned in blood. Gusev finds his wounded comrade and loads him into the winged boat. Under heavy fire from his pursuers, the Red Army soldier breaks through to the cactus field. The soldiers are already trying to smash the earthly craft with sledgehammers, but Gusev disperses them with blows from his club. Having sealed the mangled hatches, the Earthlings perform an emergency takeoff.

The Call of the Universe

The return journey through the vacuum nearly ends in disaster. The metal projectile is caught in the gravity well of a comet. Cutting through the diamond fields of meteorites, the ship miraculously changes trajectory. The astronauts’ oxygen and water supplies run low. Losing consciousness, Gusev directs the red-hot egg toward Earth’s watery sphere.

On June 3rd, the craft makes a hard landing on the shores of Lake Michigan in North America. A crowd of vacationers watches in amazement as police extract half-dead travelers from the charred cylinder. Moose spends a long time recovering in the hospital, receiving congratulations from Skiles.

Six months later, the heroes return to snowy Petrograd. Gusev gives lectures and creates a society to organize a new military expedition to Mars. Los continues to work at the mechanical plant. One winter, he is invited to a radiotelephone station: the equipment detects powerful signals of unknown origin. Putting on headphones, Los hears Aelita’s voice through the cosmic noise. His beloved cries out in an unearthly language across the frigid universe: "Where are you, where are you, Son of Heaven?"